Notre Dame's Defensive Coaching Staff Must Answer Crucial Questions In 2026
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After a rough start to the 2025 season, Notre Dame's defense made some key philosophical adjustments and finished the regular season as one of the hottest defenses in the country. Year one of the Chris Ash era didn't start the way many thought it would, but things changed for the better and the Fighting Irish defense built a lot of momentum heading into 2026.
In the final eight games of the regular season, Notre Dame's defense allowed 11.8 points per game, 273.9 yards per game and 3.9 yards per play. All three rank inside of the Top 10 in the country. The rush defense was excellent last season and got better with each passing week. The pass defense struggled mightily to begin the season, but after some adjustments, they turned into the unit we thought they could be.
The expectations for this group are sky high heading into 2026. The talent, production and experience they return across all three levels is next to none. This is by far the deepest defensive line rotation across the board I've seen at Notre Dame in a very long time. The Irish return all five of their linebackers from last season headlined by returning captain and middle line backer Drayk Bowen.
South Bend is also home to the best secondary in college football. Unanimous All-American Leonard Moore returns after a stellar sophomore season, Christian Gray returns to enter his third year in the starting lineup and both Adon Shuler and Brauntae Johnson return at safety. The depth in across the board in the trenches, at linebacker and on the back end is also tremendous.
Ultimately, the biggest question on defense lies with their defensive coordinator. We saw two different versions of Ash last season. Which one will we see in 2026 and will we see that version throughout the entire season? Fact of the matter is we saw the worst version of Notre Dame's defense against the two best opponents they faced in 2025, but after Purdue, they proceeded to dominant inferior opponents. Can Ash be the best version of himself as the Irish prepare to take on opponents like BYU, Miami and SMU in the second half of the season?
Some of the responsibility falls on head coach Marcus Freeman as well. He's a defensive-minded head coach and that side of the ball, more than the offense, needs his stamp of approval. Can he make sure Ash and the new coaching staff is putting every player in the best position to succeed? We saw that adjustment after Purdue last season; that has to carry over into the 2026 season in it's entirety.
The final piece of all of this is the wave of new assistants on the defensive side of the ball. After the departures of Al Washington, Max Bullough and Mike Mickens, the Irish hired three new defensive assistants in January. Former Indianapolis Colts defensive line coach Charlie Partridge took over in the trenches. Former Michigan linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary took over the linebacking corps and former Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry took over the back end of the defense.
Luckily, all three new assistants are walking into, arguably, the most talented rooms they've had in their careers from top to bottom. The level of talent on this side of the ball is next to none. Now, it's up to Ash and his staff to get this talent on the right track and let them go to work. This defense is poised to have an absolute monster season and it could play a major role on their postseason run.
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